


There are no curses (only mirrors)

by anightskyperson



Series: I'm sorry about the blood in your mouth (I wish it was mine) [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Exhaustion, Fainting, Fever, Hurt, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, Overworking, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Has Issues, Peter Parker Has a Bad Day, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Mess, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Sick Peter Parker, Sickfic, Stressed Peter Parker, Teen Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony-centric, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:48:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23703382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anightskyperson/pseuds/anightskyperson
Summary: peter and tony are working in the lab for a bit too long; peter has a high fever and passes out.
Series: I'm sorry about the blood in your mouth (I wish it was mine) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707067
Comments: 4
Kudos: 195





	There are no curses (only mirrors)

**Author's Note:**

> series title by richard siken,  
> work title by rita dove.
> 
> i was in the mood for some whump so here ya go :)

It was early into the evening, not yet too late for dinner, and the air in the room was heavy.

  
The mild spring day had gone by unnoticed by Tony and Peter, who had spent all of it working in the underground lab, the palpable concentration in the room only interrupted by occasional questions or remarks about the suits they respectively were upgrading.

  
It proved itself a tiresome pursuit for Tony to create the morphologic nanoparticle bundles that were to be a crucial part of his new armor- they were technology he had rarely ever used before and needed a long time to develop. 

  
Peter, on the other hand, had moved on to fixing multiple parts of his suit after having done his homework and discussing Tony’s new tech with him over an improvised lunch.

  
“Hey, uh- can you help me with this receiver real quick? I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, it should work by now, but there’s something not right.”

  
“Yeah, gimme a sec,” Tony said, not looking up from his calculations.

  
This was taking too long. If these particles were going to take him all weekend, he’d have to invent an excuse for Pepper’s dinner plans on Saturday. Why wasn’t this working? If only he could conduct some sort of test with these prototypes, he could figure out how to improve them, but at this state, it seemed like-

  
“Tony?” 

  
“Huh?” 

  
He looked up. 

  
“Oh, sorry. Coming,” he said, abandoning his desk for now, back hurting as he stood up.

  
“ _Boy_ , how long have we been in here?”, he asked after really looking at Peter, who was utterly disheveled and tired, eyes glazed and hair unkempt; the picture made complete by the cluttered surroundings.

  
_“You have been working for 10.5 hours, Sir, it is currently half past 7,”_ Jarvis supplied helpfully.

  
“Oh, boy,” Peter uttered, rubbing his eyes. He looked right about ready to fall into bed, grease- stained hoodie and all.

  
“We can order some dinner if you want. You should probably take a break; you look pretty tired.”

  
“No- no, I wanna get this suit fixed before tomorrow, I have to go on patrol again, it’s bugged me for quite a while.”

  
“Yeah, I know. You said it’s the receiver…?”

  
Peter rubbed his eye again. “Uh, yeah, the receiver, it’s- “, he looked around, searching for the radio transmission piece on the overflowing desk.

  
“It’s, uh, I swear I had it a moment ago, hold on.” 

  
“This?”, Tony asked, holding up the piece.

  
“Yeah, that’s… Thanks.” He cleared his throat.

  
“Are you sure you don’t wanna call it a day? I don’t think you’re able to concentrate right now. And you blowing up the lab would cost me some precious time, you know?”, he mused.

  
“I am, I’m just- yeah, tired, I guess. But I _really_ wanna get this done.”

  
“Promise you won’t blow up the lab?”

  
Peter smiled weakly. “Promise.”

  
“Okay, so, this thing?”, Tony said and held up the piece he had been asked to fix, “It’s outdated. Like, yeah, you could fix it, but I wanted to implement the ones I built for the whole team in your suit now anyway. I know you don’t usually use this one on team missions, but I think we’re better off safe than sorry. If you wanna go on patrol tomorrow, though, you can use this one. Alright?”

  
He looked at Peter.

“Hey. Are you listening?”

  
He could literally _see_ the boy zoning back in.

  
“Oh, yeah, sorry I’m- what?”

  
He looked at Tony dazedly, hair sticking in all directions and his face a bit pale.

  
“Kid. I just said you can fix this one if you want, but I wanted to implement a new system for the whole team into this suit, too.”

  
“Uh, yeah, that’s fine. I can fix it.”

  
“You sure? I don’t know if you’ll need it tomorrow after all… You don’t look so good.”

  
“Yeah, sure, I’m fine,” Peter said looking through the toolbox, already distracted.

  
“Alright.” Tony reluctantly turned back to work on his particles.

  
More than half an hour passed, in which Tony shot increasingly worried glances at Peter, who still stood there, fumbling with the receiver and seemingly growing frustrated. Something wasn’t right.

  
“Hey, Pete- are you done with that thing?”

  
Silence.

  
“Kid?”

  
“- I- don’t know how,” came the wobbly voice from across the room.

  
“Are you okay?”

  
Peter’s pen fell to the floor, and he shakily kneeled to pick it up as Tony watched, alerted by the boy’s sudden drowsy state.

  
“Kid?”

  
Peter stood back up, pen in hand, but stumbling. He took a measured breath as he searched for something to lean on, lightheaded.

  
“Peter? Are you alright?” Tony made a few steps toward the boy.

  
“Yeah, I’m- “

  
And with that, knees buckling, he passed out.

  
Tony was barely there to catch him and guide him to the ground.

  
“Okay, okay, easy, there you go- Jesus, kid-” 

  
With Peter safely on the ground, Tony felt panic creep in. He reflexively felt for a pulse.

  
“Peter? Come on, kid. Talk to me”

  
Peter’s eyes fluttered open. “Huh?”

  
“Jesus,” Tony let out a breath of relief. “Please never do this again.”

  
Peter squinted at him, still woozy.

  
“You passed out, kid.”

  
“Oh.” He let his head thump softly to the floor.

  
“Jarvis?”

  
_“Mr. Parker has an elevated body temperature of 103.4 degrees Fahrenheit.”_

  
“Okay, that’s it, you’re going to bed.”

  
“I swear, I don’t feel that bad, I just- “

  
“No, this is where you zip it, kid. People who pass out in my lab have no say over their bedtime.”

  
“That’s just mean.”

  
“Nu- uh. _Scaring_ me is mean, you _know_ my heart is all messed up. Now come on- “

  
Tony heaved the dizzy teen to an upright position and maneuvered him to his room upstairs.

  
As soon as Peter got into bed, he was out like a light. Sleeping, he looked a lot younger- almost as young as he was when Tony first found him in Queens.

God, how the time passed.

He stood in that room for a long time,  
letting change seep in.

**Author's Note:**

> yikes i hope this wasnt too melodramatic but i hope the end ties in a bit with the title! if you know what iron man scene i based this oneshot on, you're a really cool human. but you're also really cool if you have no idea- i don't make the rules!  
> stay safe xx


End file.
